DC money lender bonds.
$100 for the $5,000 bond.
The District has required a bond from licensed money lenders since the original licensing statute: D.C. Code § 26-903 conditions every money lender license on a $5,000 bond to the District of Columbia, conditioned on obeying the laws that govern the lending business, renewed and refiled annually each October. The license itself is now administered by DISB through NMLS. Our premium is 0.6% of the bond amount, $100 minimum — $100 for the $5,000 bond, issued the moment you pay. Any credit screen is a soft pull only — it never affects your score.
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Three steps. One sitting.
Money lender license bonds are among the simplest filings in surety. Here is the entire process:
Apply online
Business details, an effective date, and a term. That is the entire application — any credit screen is a soft pull that never shows as a hard inquiry.
Pay & e-sign
This bond is checkout-priced — $100 for the $5,000 amount, so it issues the moment you pay — your executed bond and power of attorney generate on the spot.
File through NMLS
DC money lender licensing runs through NMLS. Your executed bond arrives by email, ready to associate with your license record for DISB.
What it is and who needs it.
What the bond actually guarantees
The District's money lender licensing law, D.C. Code § 26-901 et seq., requires a license before engaging in the business of lending money in the District — a statute that reaches consumer lenders, installment lenders, and online lenders serving DC borrowers. Section 26-903 requires each application to be accompanied by a bond to the District of Columbia in the penal sum of $5,000.
It's a three-party arrangement: you (the principal), the surety carrier, and the District as obligee. The bond is conditioned on the licensee not violating any law relating to the money lending business — the rate, disclosure, and conduct rules that protect District borrowers. Execution by an authorized surety company satisfies the statute's two-surety requirement.
It is not insurance for you — if the surety pays a claim, you repay the surety. The statute requires the bond to be renewed and refiled annually in October; a licensee that lets it lapse must stop doing business within 30 days and faces revocation. We track the term and send renewal notices 60 and 30 days out.
You need this bond if you're
One application, issued instantly.
These are the actual issuing fields — business details, an effective date, and a term. That is the entire application.
Start the application →Common questions.
Other District of Columbia bonds.
Finish your money lender license today.
$100 for the $5,000 bond, issued the moment you pay, soft pull only. Free until issued.